Former U.S. Atty: Immigration sweeps illegal

In an exclusive interview on 12 News, Arizona's former top federal prosecutor said Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration sweeps are illegal.

Paul Charlton is a republican and served 16 years in the Justice Department serving three presidents. Charlton said he hoped the federal government would step in, investigate and stop the sheriff's immigration round-ups.

Charlton said, "What Sheriff Joe Arpaio is doing absolutely warrants a civil rights investigation. It is wrong to use law enforcement authority to stop people because they have a different skin color than we do. It's right to use law enforcement authority to enforce immigration law where immigration law is in path. But that's not what's happening here."

Charlton is now in private practice. He was fired almost two years ago in what became a national story about the Bush White House and then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Charlton was one of nine prosecutors fired. Since then, independent investigations have confirmed that several were fired for political reasons. It was determined that Charlton wasn't fired for political reasons. Charlton was let go for policy differences involving a death penalty case and FBI interrogations.